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Who is Devyani Khobragade?

Devyani Khobragade is the daughter of retired IAS officer Uttam Khobragade and was born and brought up in Mumbai and went to Mount Carmel School.

| TNN | Updated: Dec 20, 2013, 17:09 IST

Devyani Khobragade is the daughter of retired IAS officer Uttam Khobragade and was born and brought up in Mumb... Read More

NEW DELHI: The uproar surrounding the arrest of Devyani Khobragade, India’s deputy consul general in the Consulate General of India in New York has captured the active imagination of one and all. At this time, it becomes significant to understand who Devyani is and why her arrest has triggered such humongous response.
Devyani Khobragade is the daughter of retired IAS officer Uttam Khobragade. She was born and brought up in Mumbai and went to Mount Carmel School. After school, she pursued a MBBS degree from Seth GS medical college and KEM hospital in Mumbai. However, instead of following medicine as a profession, Devyani opted for foreign service. After clearing the prestigious civil services exam in 1999, Devyani was sent to various prestigious missions of India around the world including the ones in Pakistan, Italy and Germany and finally the Consulate General of India in New York. Devyani's uncle, Dr Ajay M Gondane is also an IFS officer of the 1985 batch.

On the personal front, Devyani is married to a professor of philosophy and has two daughters aged three and six. She is also known to be a prominent voice on the issue of rights of dalit women. In fact, in April this year, Devyani spoke at the Australian Consulate in Manhattan on 'Women's Rights and the Influence of Demographics in India'.

Apart from earning laurels at her job, Devyani was also selected for the Chevening Rolls-Royce scholarship in 2012. She is also proficient in four languages, namely, English, Hindi, Marathi and German.

Her Twitter account @devyani_K also gives an insight into the kind of person Devyani is.

On December 11, 2013, the US state department charged Devyani Khobragade. She was charged with willfully committing visa fraud and perjury under Title 28, United States Code, Section 1746. The charges further alleged that Khobragade had submitted a visa application for anther individual (in this case her domestic help Sangeeta Richard) which contained materially false and inaccurate statements. On December 12, Devyani was arrested in New York.

What began after her arrest can only be described as an assault on her person and her reputation. She was subjected to treatment that is reserved for hardened criminals. Humiliated and strip-searched, Devyani was held in a cell with drug addicts. In an e-mail which Devyani wrote to colleagues after her arrest, Devyani said that, “I am so grateful for all the outpouring of unequivocal support and backing that has been available to me from the fraternity.” She also added that, “While I was going through it, although I must admit that I broke down many times as the indignities of repeated handcuffing, stripping and cavity searches, swabbing, hold up with common criminals and drug addicts were all being imposed upon me despite my incessant assertions of immunity, I got the strength to regain composure and remain dignified thinking that I must represent all of my colleagues and my country with confidence and pride.”

There have been protests against Devyani’s arrest and the government of India has also registered its displeasure at the ensuing events with its US counterparts. The political class is demanding nothing short of an unconditional apology and also the dropping of all charges against Devyani. India’s Parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath on Thursday said that to satisfy India, the US will have to apologize and admit their mistake for the arrest. Salman Khurshid, India’s external affairs minister announced that he will not return to Parliament if he was unable to get Devyani out of this mess. These sentiments are being echoed by the masses too.

However, there are some people who have been riding against this tide and saying that no wrong has been done to Devyani. Foremost among these people is Preet Bharara, who has refuted all the claims hitherto being made and has said that she was not handcuffed in front of her children. He has also gone on record to say that Devyani was afforded courtesies which most Americans wouldn’t be given.

The support for Devyani across social media platforms has been astounding. The hashtag #Devyanihumiliated has been trending on Twitter and a few accounts such as #Devyani Khobragade @TrendingWar have also been created to garner more support for her.

Following are a few tweets in support of Devyani:

@PrabhuChawla: Why shouldn't the American diplomats based in India be given the same strip and cavity search for violating our laws? #DevyaniHumiliated

@swatz553: US got such power to humiliate an Indian coz in past Indian govt has been so passive ..they dont take us seriously #DevyaniHumiliated

@Shonatwits: US can't survive without india&China but dares to humiliate India while they boot lick China.India needs to take a stand #DevyaniHumiliated

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